June 4, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 93 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page H4297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                COMMEMORATING 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the historic 
75th anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1944, the heroic Allied invasion of 
Europe at Normandy, France.
  Let us honor the 180,000 Allied troops who reclaimed liberty for the 
modern world, moving across the turbulent English Channel, which ran 
red with their blood, including from our beloved uncle, Stanley 
Rogowski.
  Our troops endured more deadly Nazi shelling from land and air as 
they clawed their way up the daunting seawalls and beaches to retake 
Europe for the free world.
  The weather was harsh. The shores were littered with mines and barbed 
wire. From their landing crafts and parachutes, our soldiers were met 
with heavy fire.
  The work of clearing the five beaches upon which the Allies landed--
Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno, and Sword--was as difficult as it was deadly. 
It was not until June 12 that all five beaches, stretching over 50 
miles, were finally conquered.
  When the smoke finally cleared, over 4,000 Allied troops had made the 
ultimate sacrifice.
  Operation Neptune was a decisive victory for the Allied cause. It 
remains the largest seaborne invasion in history and a turning point in 
the Second World War.
  Until that day, Adolf Hitler waged destruction and terror across 
Europe, virtually unencumbered on the Western Front. From France to 
Poland to Russia, millions died in his wake. But from the Allied 
foothold in Normandy, American, Canadian, and British troops spread out 
across Europe and liberated German-occupied Europe from Nazi tyranny.
  This week, we gratefully remember and honor the men and women who 
served and sacrificed for the freedom of Europe and the entire world. 
We live in their debt each day.

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